Vehicle steering mechanism.



S. H. KENNEDY. VBHIG'LBSTBBRING.MBCHANISM. .APPLICATION FILED APR.5, 1912.

-1 ,058,758," Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

, f L9 @D I Q y 44 g l 7 om# 'TMO .o l 46 /Q I 4@ l ber 669,771.,

'com anying drawinfs.

SAMUEL H. KENnEDY, or TUNNEL HILL, GEORGIA.

v EHIcLE STEERING MECHANI'SM.

I `Speeieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

Application inea apn-1 5, 191e. seria1 i-rb.ess,74s.

To all 'whom it inay'ponceiw; I Be it'. known that I, SAMUEL'H. KENNEDX,

acitizen ofthe United States, lresiding at. Tunnel Hill, in the county of Whitiield and State of Georgia, haveinventedcertain nen1 and useful improvements in 'Vehicle Steer-v ing Mechanism, of which the following is a. specification, reference being had tothe :1c-'

T is invention relates to vehicle steering meehanlsmand has for its primary ob]ect 'to simplify'and. improve the construction of mechanism of-thatgeneral character shown and Adescribed in my 'prior applic-'ation for patent tiled January 6th, 1912, 4Serial Num- `The present invention has for a more speclfic object to provide an extremely simple Vactuating means'between the Wheel carrying spindles* whereby the same are positivelyv and'simllltaneously'actuated to obtain a dit'` feren'tial tnrning'movement of 'the steering wheels, whereby the costof manufacture 0i motor'vehiclesand similar machines provided with my improved differential steering mechanismwillbe reduced 'toa Inini ,mump 1 .With the and claimed, and' illustratedin the accomlan-view of my im proved steering mec amsm 'showin same mounted upon. avehicle axle; 41g. 2

'is a similar. view showing therelativef positlons ofthe arts of the'mechanisml when'.

- making a rig t hand turn Fig'. 3 is an enlarged section taken.. on the line' 3 3 of Fig.

1 Fig. 4f is a section'takenonthe line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. `5 is a 'section similar to Fig. L illustrating a slightly modified form of the device.

. Referring in detail to the draiving 5 dcsig nate's the vehicle aXleupon the endsot .which the Wheel spindles or lnuclrlesG are pivotally mounted'for movement in a hori-l z'ontal plane. Totheinner plvotcd ends' ot,

these Wheel knuckles the rearwardly extending arm's 7 are secured or integrally .formed therewith.

Spaced actuating membersv 8 are mounted upon the central portion of the axle 5 and extend l reni-vvardly thereof. The forward above and other objects in v iewf,i4 'the invention consists of the novelfeatures of. construction, combination and. arrange-f ment. of partsl hereinafter .fullyl described the'i low the axle respectively and are fulcrumed thereon as'shown at 9. `Each of these mm- 'bers is of crnciform shane in plan, the in- 1 4 are'p'1votallyconnectedto the rear ends of the steering armsv 7 and have their inner ends of these members extend'albove and beendsdisposed between the spaced armslO of. the-'actuatng-memhers -8. 4The inner ends of these connecting bars are of increased thickness and of substantially reci tangu'lar fornri'n cross section and are bifurcated, the parallel arms being' rovided with. the longitudinal slots 15. hrough these slots 'the rectangular or squared lp0rtions 12 of the studs or ins l2. Acarried by the' disks 13,. extend. .1e extremities'of the lparallel Aportions'of the' connecting. bars Li are secured together 'and rigidly con-' 'i nected by means of blocks '16. Coiled 'springs 1l are 'arranged upon opposite sides nt' thedisks 13 and between the spaced arms'.

ofthe connecting bars, said springs bearing against the disks to hold the connecting bars 14 against casual or unintentional. movement. Between the' rear ends of' the 'actuating members 8 one end'- ot'- a laterally projecting link 418 is' rigidly {ined} To the other end of this-link one end of a transversely movable rackbar 19 is pivotally connected. The teeth 19 of thisba'r areengaged by the. teeth of a pinion 2() secured upon the lower e'nd of a steer-ing shaft 21. The rack bar l mounted for sliding movement in suitable guides arrangedupon the frame of the vehicle. y i

' In the voperation of th'e device, assuming that. the parts are in the position shown'in Fig.' 1 and it is desired to malte aturn to theA right, the operator turns the wheel on the upper' end of the steeringshaft h21 to rotate' thefpinion 20 and thereby move-the rack har 19 to the left. This movement, of the rack bar swings the actuating members 8 .to the loft, and throws the inner ends of the connecting bars l14 1 1-p\vardly and downwardly respectively. It will De obvious thatwvhen the point of connection of the left. arm '14, to lthe members 8 disi nection of the outer end ot-saidv member to the steering arm'7, the turning movement of the knuckle or spindle 6 on the left will decrease while there will be a relatively increased turning movementv of the right hand wheel in the continued pivotal movement of the actuating members 8. In this manner, a differential movement of the wheels isobtained and the right hand or inner steering wheel is turned to a greater extent than the outer or left hand wheel whereby the proper turning movement of the vehicle is obtained. The springs 17 constitute the yieldable connect-ion between the inner ends of the members 14 and the actuating members Sare of .such strength that they will not interfere lwith the movement of the connections 14 when the members 8 are positively actuated through the medium of the'v rack bar 19. fWhen, however, the wheels of the vehicle strike an obstruction, the movement of' the steering knuckles is taken up or absorbed by said springs and is not transmitted to the -rack bar 19 through the vmembers 8, which would strip lthe teeth lfrom the rack` bar or turn the steering shaft. By the employment of these springs, the steering knuckles further und materially reduce vibration of the veare also relieved of undue strain which would be caused by the sudden impact of the wheels with obstructions. These springs act in the nature of a shock absorber hicle body.

In Fig. 5 I. have shown a slightly modified form of the connection between the connecting bars 14 and the actuating members 8 .wherein the inner ends of said connecting bars are provided with the cylindrical casings 14 in which the disks 13 between the arms 10 are disposed. This casing is longiclearly understood. It `.vill be lobserved that 155 the device is much simpler than that shown in my prior application hereinbefore reit'erred'to. It is consequently apparent that the device as a whole may be inexpensively manufactured, willy be positive and efficient in its action andis extremely durable in practical use.

While I have shown and described the pre1 ferredconstruction and arrangement of the various elements,` it will he obvious that the invention is susceptible of considerable -modification without departing from the esnected at their outer ends to the wheel spindles, guide members mounted in the arms of the actuating member, the inner ends of said bars being longitudinally movable upon said guide members, and coil springs mounted in the ends of said bars and' bearing against the guide members to yield ingly hold said bars against movement independently of the actuating member.

2. In a steering mechanism for vehicles, an actuating member fulcrumed upon the vehicle axle, guide members pivotally mounted .inrsaid actuating member, bars connected at their ends to the wheel spindles, the inner ends of said bars being provided With longitudinal slots to receive the pivoted guide members, and coil springs arranged in said slots upon opposite sides of the guide members to yieldingly prevent movement of said bars independently of the actuating member.

In a steering mechanism for vehicles, spaced actuating members having their forward ends disposed above and below the vehicle axle and pivotally mounted thereon for movement in a horizontal plane, said members being provided lwith oppositely disposed laterally extending arms, disks connecting the arms of the respective members and pivotally mounted therein, bars connected at their outerl ends to the' wheel spindles and movable upon said disks at their inner ends, springs mounted in said bars and bearing against the disks to normally prevent movement of the bars independently of the actuating members, a rack bar connected at one end to the rear ends of said actuating members, and a steering shaft provided with a pinion meshing vwith the teeth of said rack bar to shift the same and positively turn the vehicle wheels.

4. Ina steering mechanism for vehicles, spaced actuating members pivotally mount ed at their forward ends upon the vehicle axle for movement in' a horizontal plane, said members each being provided with oppositely extending laterally disposed arms, disks pivotally mounted in the ends of the opposed arms of said actuatingmembcrs, bars pivotally connected at their outer ends to the wheel s indles, the inner ends of said bars being biiurcated` to receive said disks and slotted to receive the pivot studs of said disks, coiled springs mounted in the bifuroated ends of said connecting bars and bearing against the faces of the disks, said' springs normally acting to prevent Inove- InientV of the'connecting bars with respect to the actuating members but permitting ofV such independent movement upon unintentional turning movement of the vehicle Wheels, a transversely movable rack bar conneoied at one of its ends to the rear ends of the actuating members,and a steering shaft provided with a pinion upon its lower end 10 meshipg with. the teethfof the rack b ar to shift the `same andmove the actuating lnemy signature in theA presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL KENNEDY. *I

Witnesses:

S. BANDY, L. J. F LEMISTER. a 

